The Jefferson Starship to land at Ardmore Music Hall

Rising out of the political and social chaos of the late 1960’s was one of San Francisco’s notorious musical acts, “The Jefferson Airplane.” Their most prominent musical line-up featured Grace Slick, Paul Kantner, Marty Balin, Jack Casady, Jorma Kaukonen and Spencer Dryden. The Airplane released some of the decade’s most significant songs. Rolling Stone Magazine classified “White Rabbit” and “Somebody To Love,” indelibly linked to the hippie generation, as two of the “500 Greatest Songs of All-time.” “Embryonic Journey,” “Today” and “We Can Be Together” were famously performed at the Monterey Pop (1967), Woodstock (1969), Altamont (1969) and Isle of Wight (1968) music festivals.

“When we started out in the city there was us, The Dead and Janis and Big Brother, and then Quicksilver and Santana came in,” recalls Kantner. “Then, as now, it was just something that we do and we did. We were all musicians, and we were thrown into an era where things that were going on were kind to us and we thrived. We focused on highlighting people and ideas and the parts of our life that were good and uplifting and tried to communicate that and hopefully sometimes showed and directed people into areas where they might not otherwise have gone. I never thought of ourselves as any big important thing or big deal and, for that matter, I still don’t.”

Following the initial break up of the band over creative differences, legal battles between members ensued over the use of the band name. That tension led to several iterations featuring various former band members, initially the “Jefferson Starship” (“Dragonfly,” “Red Octopus” and “Spitfire”) and later another derivative with a simplified moniker, “The Starship.”

The Jefferson Airplane’s 1996 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame solidified the band’s creative footprint for generations to come. It also featured a performance by Kantner, Balin, Kaukonen, Casady and Dryden, serendipitously reunited for the first time since 1970. Slick was regrettably absent for health reasons.

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The Jefferson Starship, originally fronted by Slick and vocalist Mickey Thomas, attained significant commercial success with the release of their “Knee Deep in the Hoopla” (1985) album. Earning platinum honors, the record spawned two number 1 hits, “We Built This City” and “Sara.” The band earned their third number 1 hit in two years when the single “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” was prominently featured in the film “Mannequin” (1987). Hollywood came knocking again and their song “Wild Again” was featured on the soundtrack of the Tom Cruise film “Cocktail” (1988). Slick left Starship soon thereafter, joining a reformed “Jefferson Starship” before retiring one year later. Kantner eventually won his legal case for naming rights, paving the way for what has evolved into the guitarist presently fronting the “Jefferson Starship.”

Featuring a line-up including long time Jefferson Starship alumnus Donny Baldwin (drums) and David Freiberg (guitar, vocals), Cathy Richardson (lead vocals), Chris Smith (piano) and Jude Gold (guitar), the Jefferson Starship enjoys success throughout the world as they perform to packed clubs, theatres and stadiums.

“We have a really killer band that is going full tilt,” says Kantner. “Having extraordinary people that can play as well as they do carries me through life. There’s a certain celebratory aspect to playing live that I’m really fond of as well as all of the other stuff that goes into both writing and playing. The passion, the joy, the exploration, the ecstasy of it all - it’s a thrill a minute, and you don’t know or necessarily want to know what’s going to come up next. Much like the precision of architecture, there’s a beauty there in the songs that is to be appreciated hopefully by the people in the audience as well as ourselves. I’m swept away by it, and I’d like to continue doing it.” Between touring, which finds the band performing in excess of eighty dates in a given year, Kantner is writing new music as well as penning what he hopes will be a new book. “I’m writing about four or five songs right now,” says Kantner. “My predominant one is about Mary Magdalene, who, for me, would be the ultimate lead singer for our band. She has always been one of my heroes for her various exploits. I’ve got several other songs going as well. I don’t know when they will be released. I guess when they are ready. I’ve avoided deadlines in my life.” “I have a book called “Tales From The Mothership” that I’ve outlined and written parts of, and God knows if I’ll ever finish it,” says Kantner. “It goes from the beginning until now. It’s not really an autobiography. It’s just the telling of tales of what went on and what happened to us, how we reacted and the things we got to do in our day.”

“I’m pretty simple,” offered Kantner. “I don’t do all those things that people do when they get famous. I’m very grounded, and I live the simple life. The most important things are my children, my guitar and my band. I’ve tried, intentionally, not to go too far beyond that.”

The Jefferson Starship performs at the Ardmore Music Hall, 23 E. Lancaster Avenue Ardmore, PA 19003, on Friday March 21, 2014 at 8:00 P.M. For tickets call 610-649-8389 or visit www.ticketfly.com. To stay up to date on future shows visit www.ardmoremusic.com.

About the Author

A Philadelphia based music journalist for over 30 years, Rob has interviewed, reviewed and photographed hundreds of well-known musicians and athletes. Working with almost every major music venue in the Philadelphia area, his writing has appeared in a variety of entertainment publications and newspapers. His work can frequently be found in print and on the web in the 21st Century Media newspapers. Rob resides in Phoenixville, Pa.